Has Britain Turned A Corner On The Virus?

Death toll falls to new low and testing is ramped up, so can we begin to hope...

- Macer Hall

Hopes were raised yesterday that Britain is winning the war against Covid-19 after the daily death toll fell to a new low.

Officials revealed the virus claimed 160 lives while the numbers admitted to hospital are firmly on the decline.

Levels of testing are also being stepped up.

Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said: “Everywhere the numbers of patients with Covid-19 is now in a sustained decline – very good news.”

Figures showed an estimated 678 patients were being treated for coronavirus in hospital in England on May 16, down from 701 a week earlier.

Prof Van-Tam told the Downing Street coronavirus briefing the daily death toll was now showing “a consistent and solid decline”.

Earlier Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed that the Government’s test-and-trace effort is being massively expanded to check possible infections in anyone over the age of five.

He also said more than 21,000 staff have been recruited to a national army of contact tracers to hunt down the spread of the virus across England.